All Samsung Galaxy Watches Released In Chronological Order Leading Up To The Galaxy Watch 7 Ultra

There are some in the tech community who view Samsung as a brand that peeks into Apple’s notebooks and copies its homework. Be it the Galaxy S series of flagship phones or the Galaxy Book range of laptops, Samsung has mostly been, sometimes unfairly perhaps, seen as a follower of trends rather than a trendsetter. However, almost a decade ago when the smartphone revolution took off, Samsung took a gamble by releasing its first smartwatch way before Apple or Google did.

Samsung took all of us by surprise with the Samsung Gear – a proper feature-loaded smartwatch meant to be used as a companion for your smartphone. Its successors became a harbinger of innovation and trendsetting designs that attracted enthusiasts to the category. Even though the Apple Watch later set a gold standard for smartwatches, Samsung’s thoughtful additions won hearts. Take for instance the concept of the rotating bezel, which is still regarded by smartwatch enthusiasts as one of the best innovations in the segment. Old-timers also adore the phased-out Tizen OS platform, which was hailed for its compatibility and polish.

A drastic shift in focus came with the Galaxy Watch 4 series that embraced Google’s Wear OS platform, reviving the latter from the dead.

Hence, you can credit Samsung for being the only brand worthy of competing with the Apple Watch and giving us tempting alternatives. With the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 series and the rumoured Galaxy Watch FE, the Android ecosystem might witness the arrival of greater innovations – ones that could make even the rumoured Apple Watch Series X look boring in comparison.

Hence, as the rumour mill gets busy with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 series leaks, we decided to list down all the Samsung Galaxy Watch models in their chronological order of release.

Smartwatch enthusiasts buckle up for a trip down memory lane.

A history of the Samsung Galaxy Watches in chronological order

Samsung Galaxy Gear

Released in: 2013

Platform: Android OS / Tizen OS

Did you know that Samsung had originally released its first smartwatch with an Android OS?

The first Galaxy Gear was nothing like the Galaxy Watch models of today. For its first smartwatch, Samsung stuck to the idea of an Android-based wearable acting as an extension of your smartphone. With a rectangular display surrounded by a metal frame, the Galaxy Gear wasn’t conventionally pretty but certainly looked different, even cool, especially with its embedded camera on the strap and the buckle-infused loudspeaker.

As far as its features were concerned, you could take calls via Bluetooth, get notification alerts, store pictures, control the music playback and track your steps. While it didn’t monitor other aspects of your health, it had a mini app store for custom watch faces and third-party health-tracking apps.

A year later, Samsung updated the OS to its proprietary Tizen OS and paired it with the Gear Manager companion app. The Tizen OS improved the overall performance and battery life while adding a couple of new functionalities.

The Samsung Galaxy Gear remained on sale until its successor dropped in 2014.

Samsung Gear 2

Released in: 2014

Platform: Tizen OS

Within months of releasing the Galaxy Gear, Samsung revealed the Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo as the next-generation instalments.

While the Gear 2 series retained the familiar rectangular design, the 1.6-inch display was now surrounded by a black bezel. The metal body of the watch contained a 2-megapixel main camera allowing 720p video recording and an infrared sensor. This allowed users to replace the strap according to their will. On the other hand, the Gear 2 Neo had a plastic body and lacked a camera. However, both versions featured a home button.

The Tizen OS was another major upgrade from the Galaxy Gear. Paired with the faster Exynos 3250 chip, it offered superior performance and better battery life. A new heart rate monitor could keep track of your heart statistics and Samsung baked in a dedicated S Health app for checking metrics on the move. The companion app allowed users to change wallpapers, clock faces and download apps from the Samsung Apps store.

Samsung Gear S

Released in: 2014

Platform: Tizen OS

The Gear 2 had only started penetrating the market when Samsung announced the Gear S smartwatch in late 2014. This was supposed to be an affordable alternative to the Gear S2 and hence, lacked the camera and the IR sensor. The Tizen OS gave it the same functionalities as the Gear S2 but what stood out the most was its 2-inch curved Super AMOLED display – it looked beautiful and was large enough to host a QWERTY keyboard for texting. The Gear S also featured 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi functionality and Bluetooth, thereby making it a standalone smartwatch.

Samsung Gear S2

Released in: 2015

Platform: Tizen OS

The Gear S2 series set the tone for Samsung’s smartwatch division post the Apple Watch era.

While the regular Gear S2 featured a circular display, the Gear S2 Classic introduced the iconic rotating bezel to navigate around the UI without using the touchscreen. There was also a Gear S2 3G variant that featured a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chip and used eSIM for data connectivity (the first to do so). The heart rate sensor also returned along with an accelerometer, barometer and a light sensor. The Gear S2 also featured NFC payments via Samsung Pay, yet another major upgrade over its predecessor.

Samsung Gear S3

Released in: 2016

Platform: Tizen OS

The Gear S3 series introduced generic performance upgrades to Samsung’s watch lineup and simplified it. There was the Gear S3 Frontier with a black body and rubber strap while the Gear S3 Classic had a silver metallic body and a leather strap. Both models featured the rotating bezel as a standard feature, thus making it easy to navigate the UI. The watches gained IP68 certification for water and dust resistance, GPS connectivity for tracking your walks and runs and LTE connectivity in select variants. The faster Exynos chip, along with the Tizen OS, ensured a smooth user experience.

Samsung Gear Sport

Released in: 2017

Platform: Tizen 3

In 2017, Samsung released the Gear Sport as a smartwatch dedicated to fitness enthusiasts. This meant the Gear Sport ditched LTE connectivity and the ability to take calls and instead opted for a lighter body and offered multiple health monitoring features to make itself desirable to fitness freaks. It also featured workout modes and kept an eye on your heart rate. It was even designed to withstand your swimming sessions despite the presence of a rotating bezel.

Samsung Galaxy Watch

Released in: 2018

Platform: Tizen 4

The ecosystem mania led Samsung to assign the new Galaxy Watch moniker to its smartwatches and reserve the Gear name for its fitness trackers.

The first ‘Galaxy Watch’ came in two sizes – 42mm and 46mm – and retained the rotating bezel as a standard feature. The focus of the Galaxy Watch was on fitness and 24×7 health monitoring. As such, four-stage sleep tracking was one of its star features along with continuous heart rate monitoring. Samsung also claimed military-grade durability with this iteration and promised up to three days of battery life on a full charge.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active

Released in: 2019

Platform: Tizen 4

The Galaxy Watch Active was the true successor to the Gear Sport and was essentially a lighter version of the Galaxy Watch. To achieve a lower price and a smaller footprint, Samsung ditched the rotating bezel and forced users to rely solely on the touchscreen for navigation. The internal hardware was identical to the Galaxy Watch and the same could be said for the health monitoring features and fitness modes.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

Released in: 2019

Platform: Tizen 4

The Galaxy Watch Active 2 came within months of the original’s launch and addressed a couple of complaints. Firstly, it compensated for the missing physical rotating bezel with a touch-based bezel, thereby allowing easy navigation. Next, Samsung offered Active 2 in 40mm and 44mm sizes, which allowed those with bigger wrists to opt for the slimmer and more affordable version, something they couldn’t do with the Galaxy Watch. It also gained a new ECG sensor, which was activated much later across various markets. Lastly, Samsung offered the Watch Active 2 with LTE connectivity as an optional extra. The Active 2 still used the same old Exynos 9110 chip as its predecessor.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3

Released in: 2020

Platform: Tizen 5.5

The Galaxy Watch 3 brought back the classic styling of the Galaxy Watch, complete with the much-loved physical rotating bezel. However, Samsung shaved off some millimetres to make the Watch 3 slimmer and more comfortable on the wrists. Since it came at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic raged havoc on humanity, Samsung introduced Blood Oxygen saturation monitoring and an ECG reading functionality. The Galaxy Watch 3 marked the last outing of Samsung’s Tizen OS as the South Korean firm announced a partnership with Google to work on Wear OS.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic

Released in: 2021

Platform: Wear OS 3 with One UI interface

In 2021, Samsung decided to jump ship to Google’s Wear OS in favour of beating Apple in the ecosystem game. The Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic ran a new Wear OS 3 version with Samsung’s One UI interface on top. For the first time, a Samsung smartwatch featured Google apps and a dedicated Play Store to download thousands of third-party apps and watch faces.

With the Watch 4 generation, Samsung pushed the standard Galaxy Watch 4 as a lighter version meant for fitness enthusiasts, while the Watch 4 Classic was aimed at those seeking the classic rotating bezel. A new Exynos W920 chip offered a notable boost in performance. The health and fitness department oversaw a major upgrade with the new Samsung BioActive sensor that could monitor your heart rate, Blood Oxygen saturation and ECG. It could also measure your body composition. All these upgrades made the Galaxy Watch 4 series one of the most feature-packed smartwatches money could buy.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro

Released in: 2022

Platform: Wear OS 4 with One UI interface

While the Galaxy Watch 5 was a minor upgrade over its predecessor, the Watch 5 Pro saw a major change – the removal of the rotating bezel. In addition, the battery capacity saw a notable increase in both the models and a new skin temperature sensor promised to offer better insights into your sleep monitoring.

As mentioned above, the Watch 5 Pro ditched the physical rotating bezel in favour of a rugged design with a touch-sensitive edge, which, as you can imagine, irked many loyalists. Samsung also chose to retain the Exynos W920 chip from the previous generation, thereby not offering any significant performance upgrade.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic

Released in: 2023

Platform: Wear OS 4 with One UI interface

The Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic brought further refinements over the tried-and-tested design of their predecessors. The Watch 6 Classic brought back the physical rotating bezel and sported a larger capacity battery for the 47mm version. A newer Exynos W930 chip promised slight improvements to performance and battery life. The Watch 6 series also got support for blood pressure monitoring midway in its lifecycle as part of a software update.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 series

Releasing in: 2024

Platform: Wear OS 5 (rumoured)

In 2024, Samsung is rumoured to release the Galaxy Watch 7 series with a host of minor refinements. While the regular Galaxy Watch 7 will oversee minor improvements in battery capacity and a brighter OLED display, the Galaxy Watch 7 Ultra is expected to get an entirely new design with a rectangular body and a circular display that retains the physical rotating bezel. Both models are also rumoured to rely on a new 3nm chip that should improve the performance and power efficiency figures.

Galaxy Watch FE

Releasing in: 2024

Platform: Wear OS 5 (rumoured)

Alongside the Galaxy Watch 7 series, Samsung is rumoured to unveil a low-cost version of its flagship model. It will be called the Galaxy Watch FE and is rumoured to essentially be a rebranded version of the discontinued Galaxy Watch 4. The only upgrades Samsung is expected to offer are the newer 5nm Exynos W920 chipset and a new strap design with blue and orange accents.

(Hero and Featured Image Credits: Courtesy Samer Khodeir via Unsplash)